Instagram only recently made the jump from iOS to Android, and now the popular photo sharing app is making another big leap.

In a posting by Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO announced that the world's largest social network will be acquiring Instagram (and its 13 employees) for $1 billion in cash and shares. This is by far the largest acquisition by Facebook, as it easily eclipses the ~$70M purchase of Snaptu back in March of last year.

Much to the relief of Instagram fans everywhere, Facebook plans on growing Instagram independently, and the app will retain its ability to post to other social networks and users will be able to follow people separately from their Facebook friends.

On the other side of this deal, Instagram CEO, Kevin Systrom, also blogged about the acquisition, saying that he “couldn’t be happier to announce that Instagram has agreed to be acquired by Facebook” and reaffirming the fact that “The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love”.